Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, February 14

PG Running Time: 99 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Those who grew up with Sonic the Hedgehog, played his games on Sega, and have otherwise remained a fan of the character, Sonic the Hedgehog is a big deal for you.

  • There is a sweet tone and nature with all of this that makes the action-based sequences and over-the-top moments with Jim Carrey, a bit easier to take.

  • Kids are gonna probably love this. Like maybe a lot.

NO

  • Though it did not bother me, Jim Carrey gives you a whole lot of Jim Carrey in this movie, like he did in his rambunctious 1990s work. Proceed with caution.

  • Caution to the younger viewers, like maybe 6 or 7 years of age and below. There is some injury-free violence, commonplace with movies like this, but also includes a bar fight and some other action scenes and line readings that might incite imitative behavior.

  • You’ve seen this movie 1,000 times before at least. The product placement is baked into the script. This screams “I only exist to make a billion dollars!” And yet, I find enough to enjoy. Others however, may be annoyed and frustrated by the film as a whole.


OUR REVIEW

#FilmTwitter is a very real phenomenon: An amalgamation of pundits, fans, film critics, writers, podcasters, and anyone really with an opinion on the movie business. Twitter, in general, is easily weaponized and one of #FilmTwitter’s targets in 2019 was Paramount Pictures. You may recall that last spring, when the first trailer for the long-in-development and anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog film dropped, people lost their ever-loving minds.

To say the reaction was overwhelmingly negative would be an understatement. Similar to the response Universal Pictures received when #FilmTwitter saw images from Cats, Paramount promptly cancelled the November 2019 release date, took Sonic back into the digital doctor’s office and redesigned him, painstakingly recreating every single frame their human-toothed anthropomorphic animated hedgehog appeared in.

I don’t think they have ever answered the question as to why Sonic had human-looking teeth as a hedgehog, but we have collectively moved on from the scandal (or so, I think…). When a new trailer dropped in the late summer of 2019, #FilmTwitter gave the producers a rare pass and with a February 14, 2020 release date on the books, Sonic the Hedgehog is finally ready to get his closeup.

To say the film is animated is an understatement. Sonic is an animated creation bounding in and around a story where a blue sentient hedgehog crashes down to Earth, while escaping from evildoers in another dimension who want to steal his super-speed ability. His destination turns out to be Green Hills, Montana, and eventually he stumbles into the lives of small-town sheriff Tom Wachowski (James Marsden) and his wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter).

Tom and Maddie are celebrating an opportunity for him to become a sheriff in San Francisco and the anticipation of a big move is on the horizon. Once Sonic stumbles into Tom’s kitchen, soon thereafter, a bizarre scientist known as Mr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) comes to Green Hills, after being summoned by the Pentagon (what?!?) to capture Sonic and harness his special talents to help conquer the world.

On top of that, the magical bag of rings Sonic arrived on Earth with, allowing him to teleport anywhere he wants to go, accidentally was teleported to…wait for it…San Francisco.

Did someone say road trip?

And that’s basically the movie. Sonic and Tom drive to San Francisco with Robotnik on the chase.

For a character built on his notion of super-speed, Sonic the Hedgehog rather appropriately presents itself as a movie with a breakneck pace and tempo. Carrey’s easily the most animated element of the film, returning to the manic, unhinged, massively over-the-top performance that only he can try and pull off. Your tolerance for Carrey’s take on Mr. Robotnik will dictate just how much of this movie you can stand.

Let’s not forget, Sonic the Hedgehog also contains some of the most obvious product placement I can remember in quite some time.

Kids and younger viewers are going to have a ball however with the vivid colors, action sequences, and silly humor. Carrey will appeal to them as he eats all the scenery, consumes all the air, and leaves little for anyone else to do when he’s on screen. In the title role, Ben Schwartz provides the voice and facial motion capture for Sonic, whose kind, largely innocent demeanor serves both as a counterbalance to Mr. Robotnik’s wild shenanigans, but also gives viewers a pure and emotional core to invest in.

Though there are some fight sequences (in a bar?!), car crashes, and mild violence (heads up for those planning on bringing the youngest among us to the theater…), Sonic is presented as a kind, sweet character who is simply on a mission to get those rings and get back home.

Jeff Fowler’s film is a by-the-numbers family-styled comedy/adventure we have seen a thousand times before. Though it occasionally sells ad space in its screenplay, and Carrey is a lot to deal with here, Sonic the Hedgehog is largely inoffensive, amusing, and doesn’t shy away from why it really exists: To build a new coalition of Sonic fans and lay the groundwork for a future of sequels, merchandise, commercial tie-ins and massive revenue.

And don’t worry… #FilmTwitter will be ready…

CAST & CREW

Starring: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Jim Carrey, Lee Majdoub, Adam Pally, Neal McDonough, Natasha Rothwell.

Director: Jeff Fowler
Written by: Patrick Casey, Josh Miller
Based on the video game series, “Sonic the Hedgehog”, with characters created by Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, Hirokazu Yasuhara
Release Date: February 14, 2020
Paramount Pictures